We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kaitlin Mogentale. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kaitlin below.
Hi Kaitlin, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
The Ability to Take Risks
Recently, I was reminded about the culture of (calculated) risk-taking that comes into play in my role as a founder. I am going through a drastic evolution in my brand, Pulp Pantry, which we’re re-branding into a bold new name: Trashy. Trashy is the first-ever Upcycled Chip to hit the market – made from outcast veggies that others tossed including the pulp from cold-pressed juice and the peels from shaving carrots down into baby carrots.
A lot of my customers were angry about the brand name change; I had expected that it would be extremely polarizing. We’d built our brand over four years and into nearly 1,000 doors of distribution – spanning from California to Oregon to Nevada to Arizona to Hawaii, and even reaching the midwest and northeast. At one point, we were the fastest growing brand in our category of vegetable chips.
So, why embrace such a radical change?
At a certain point last year, the writing was on the wall – there was a cap on our growth, and a part of the problem was that we were positioned way too far into the sustainable, natural, healthy messaging.
At the end of the day – Trashy is competing in one of the most crowded categories, chips, and our timely message and mission wasn’t getting across loud enough.
The greatest strength we have in our back pocket as entrepreneurs is the ability to break absolutely every rule. I realized – no one is stopping me from making this change, it’s my vision and I’m solely responsible to bring it forward in the way I think best suits the business. We may never have the budget of our larger competitors (especially not in the snacking aisles) but our greatest asset is that we have a clear, unique vision and voice, one that will allow us to capture an outsized market share.
How to bring that forward?
As I looked at our options, I had to decide what to do and quickly (we were almost out of packaging for our Pulp Pantry line!). The Trashy name just matched our ethos too well: it was cheeky and offered a fun irreverent tie-in to pop culture. Big chip would never!
Trashy is all about celebrating the wonky, weird, misfit that remains true to our core values and upcycled ingredients, and the underbelly of our food system. Food waste isn’t a glossy issue – we’re diving into the hidden nooks and crannies of the industry that most of us, as consumers, are completely disconnected from. We believe it’s important to show the truth in order to make radical change.
Did you know that experts say we’ll have to grow 60% more food by 2050 in order to feed the world? And yet, currently, 40% of our food supply goes to waste. Our call to action is to fix what’s broken — and fast.
The upcycled story is one that mirrors what’s happening now in our culture with a rejection of the filtered, monotone Instagram-perfect aesthetics surrounding “health” and “wellness”. At the end of the day, we are creating snacks that satisfy a craving for flavor and crunch — we want people to have fun eating our product and giving into those cravings in their trashiest moments, just like they would any old junk food. The kicker is, our snacks will make you feel good eating them, with ingredients and a story you can get excited about.
Taking a risk is extremely scary, but also exhilarating. As a founder, it’s been incredibly exciting to let creativity run free in this process. I didn’t work with a professional agency (didn’t have the budget!) and had to put my strategy and learnings to the test in working with an independent designer to create everything from scratch. What a journey it’s been – and how fun it’s been to trust in myself and to allow myself to take risks and create. As entrepreneurs, it’s important we feel the freedom to do so – otherwise, we risk burnout and stagnation.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
As a pioneering upcycled food brand, Trashy creates value transforming forsaken vegetable remnants that no one wanted into crunchy, flavorful chips that everyone – regardless of climate concern – craves. We rescue forsaken veggie remnants, including the often-overlooked pulp (from cold-pressed juice), stems, and peels, into the crunchiest, craveable chips you’ve ever put in your mouth. Trashy Chips come in insane flavors, best-sellers like Hot Mess Jalapeño, Baddie Barbecue, Snatched Sea Salt and Sassy Salt Vinegar.
With over 200,000 pounds of food rescued, Trashy leverages supply chain and product development innovation to tackle food waste head on.
I’m excited to announce that we’re kicking off pre-orders on Earth Day, 2024. Please visit TrashyChips.com to check out what we have in store and support our launch!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Persistence – Pleasant persistence, specifically. You have to sell yourself, your vision, your product, your service and sell it HARD! Move quickly, follow up, be earnest, and don’t give up. Here’s a quote I go back to nearly every day – it’s posted on my computer:
48% of salespeople never follow up with a prospect
25% of salespeople make a second contact and stop
12% of salespeople only make three contacts and stop
Only 10% of salespeople make more than three contacts
2% of sales are made on the first contact
3% of sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact
Go get em!
Self-worth –
Cultivating belief in yourself, cultivating loving kindness in yourself, this will pay back in spades. The kinder you are to yourself in what can be a very difficult and stressful journey, the better will be your ability to remain persistent and self-assured on what will be a very uncertain journey with many winding paths and twists and turns. You got this.
Community –
Finding a community of founders who support each other, mentors who help guide the path, and people who are down to help you realize your vision. Make sure to pay it forward, too. The journey can feel lonely, but we’re super powerful when we band together as business owners with shared challenges and collective interests. The strong community you build will help ease the burden and the load.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Absolutely! Find me on Instagram @trashy_chips or trashychips.com. I’m open to ideas and how we can drive forward shared goals.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.trashychips.com
- Instagram: @trashy__chips
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trashychips/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlinmogentale/
- Twitter: @trashy_chips
Image Credits
Alexis Gross, Kaitlin Mogentale
